Overhead door



March 14, 1967 G. A. GUSTAVSSON 3 5 OVERHEAD DOOR v Filed Jan. 18, 19654 Sheets-Sheet Filed Jan. 18, 1965 March 1967 G. A. GUsTAvssoN 3 5OVERHEAD DOOR 4 Sheets-Sheet a Fly. 2

March 1967 G. A. GUSTAVSSON OVERHEAD DOOR 4 Sheets-Shet 5 Filed Jan. 18,1965 Flig- 3 IN V EN T OR.

Mrch 14, 1967 G. A. GUSTAVSSON OVERHEAD DOOR 4 Sheets-Sheet 4.

Filed Jan. 18, 1965 INVENTOR. %fiw United States Patent fice 3308581Patented Mar. 14, 1967 3,308,581 OVERHEAD DUOR Gustav A. Gustavsson,Nygatan 6, Motala, Sweden Filed Jau. 18, 1965, Ser. No. 426,017 2Claims. (Ci. 49-206) This invention relates to overhead doors having aguiding mechanism for guiding the door during its opening and closing,said guiding mechanism including on each side of the door a two-armlever, pivotally mounted in the door frame side about a horizontalshaft, said two-arm lever having the free outer end of a longer armpivotally connected to the lower end of the door and the free outer endof a shorter arm connected to the one end of a spring, the other end ofwhich is connected to the door frame, and further including on each sideof the door a rail, fastened to the inside of the door near its outerside, thus extending in the height direction of the door, and a supportarni, pivotally mounted in the door frame side for swinging movementbackwards perpendicular to the plane of the door opening, said supportarm in its free end carrying a roller cooperatng with said rail, stopmeans being provided to limit said swinging movement of the support arm.

Such a type of overhead doors has the advantage that all the partsincluded in the guiding mechanism can be concentrated to the door andits frame. Thus, no parts 'have to be fastened to the ceiling of thegarage, which otherwise usually is the case. consequently, the doormanufacturer can deliver thedoor inserted in the frame and with allparts of the guiding mechanism mounted. The building contractor has onlyto fit in the frame on its place to have the door function ir the rightway He has no troubles to fasten certain parts of the guiding mechanismto any other place in the garage, e.g. to the ceiling.

One of the principal features and objects of the present invention is toprovide means for having said type of an overhead door to move moresmoothly during its opening and cl'osing.

It is a further feature and object of the present invention to providemeans for decreasing essentially the strains on the stop means for thesupport arms when opening said type of an overhead door.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide for saidtype of an overhead door a control arm, which controls the swingingmovement of the support arms.

The novel features which I believe to be characteristic of my inventionare set forth with particularity in the appended claims. My inventionitself, however, both as to its organization and manner of Construction,together with further objects and advantages thereof, may best beunderstood by references to the following description taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings, in 'which:

FIGURE 1 is a front View, i.e. seen -from the inside of the garage, ofan overhead door according to the present invention;

FIGURE la is an enlarged detail of the slding connection betweenelements and 12 as seen in FIGURE FIGURE lb is an enlarged detail of thebuffer as seen in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 2 is a side view of the same door, a little bit'open;

FIGURE Za is an enlarged detail of the arm connection as seen in FIGURE2;

FIGURE 3 is a side view of the same door, quite open;

FIGURE 3a is an enlarged detail of the butter as seen in FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 3b is an enlarged detail of a support arm connection as seen inFIGURE 3; and

FIGURE 4 is a side view of another embodiment of the invention with thedoor quite open.

In the embodiment according to FIGURES 1-3, 1 designates the garageceiling and 2 the garage floor. 3 desi-gnates the door and 4 its frame.About a shaft 7, fixed to the frame 4, is rotatably mounted a two-armlever 6, the one, longer arm of which with its outer free end beingpivotally connected to an angle bracket 5, fastened to the inside 'ofthe door at the bottom of its outer edge. In the end opposite to theangle bracket 5 the lever 6 with a shorter arm carries a holder for aspring 8. This is in its other end fastened to another spring holder 9,fixed to the frame 4. The parts 5-9 make t'wo complete devices arrangedon each side of the door, whereby the levers 6 serve to support the doorand the springs 8 to balance it.

To the inside of the door 3 at the upper part of its two outer edgesthere are fastened on each side a rail 10, which extends in the heightdirection of the door. Cooperating with the rail 10 there is a roller1'1 of nyl'on or any other suitable material, which roller is pivotallymounted in the one end of a support arm 12. The other end of the supportarm is pivotally mounted about a fixed sha-ft in an angle bracket 13,fastened to the frame 4. In its end opposite to the roller 11 thesupport arm 12 is below its rotational axis provided with a stop plate14, which, when the support arm rotates in clockwise direction(according to FIGURES 2 and 3) arrives in contact with the frame 4,preferably via a rubber buffer 15. The support arm 12 is connected tothe lever 6 through a control arm 16. This connection is made in such away, that the lower end of the control arm 16 is pivotally mounted inthe shorter arm of the lever 6 and that the upper end of said controlarm is provided with a longitudinal slot 17, which cooperates with a pin18, fastened to the support arm 12. The control arm 16 at the lower endof the slot 17 is provided with a buifer 19. The parts described in thissection make also two complete devices, arranged on each side of thedoor.

The device described above functions in the following way. When the dooris closed the springs 8 are tensioned. All levers, arms and rails arepractically vertical with the upper ends of the rails 10 in engagementwith the rollers 11. The pins 18 of the support arms 16 are immediatelyabove the bufers 19.

When the door is to be opened, its lower end is lifted, 'whereby thedoor with the levers 6 is swung in clockwise direction (according toFIGURES 2 and 3) a bout the shafts 7. The lifting is -facilitated by thesprings 8, which during the whole lifting action tend to contract. Themovement of the door causes the rails to press against the rollers 11,so that the support arms 12 turn clockwise. This movement is faster thanthe downwards movement of the control arms 16, caused by the levers 6,and therefore the pins 18 of the support arms 12 are brought intocontact with the lower edges of the slots 17 in the control arms 16,which contact has a soft introduction by means of the buifers 19. Thiscontact, which is only temporary, thereby prevents the support arms 12from swinging immediately to their end positions, defined by the stopplates 14 in engagement with the door frame, and the door will move inanother, smoother path. On this occasion the door is supported by thelevers 6, on the one hand directly via the angle brackets 5 and on theother hand via the control arms 16, the support arms 12 and the rollers11 ir engagement with the rails 10.

During the further movement of the door the support arms 12 turn furtherclockwise, so that their stop plates 14 are brought into contact withthe franie 4, which contact also has a soft introduction by means of therubber buers 15. This further movement of the support arms 12 isenabled, as the control arms 16 by the levers 6 have been moved so fardownwards, that the lower edge of their slot 17 has left the pins 18 ofthe support arms 12. Therefore there is no more any action of thecontrol arms 16 upon the support arms 12. The final movement of the doortakes place in such a way, that the door with the rails are moved intothe garage, the rails thereby being supported by the rollers 11 of thesupport arms 12. The wholly open door is shown in FIGURE 3.

The closing of the door takes place in opposite direction, the springs 8thereby being tensioned. Also now the swinging movement of the supportarms 12 is temporarily controlled by the control arms 16 and thereforethe path of the door now is the .same as during the opening of the door.

In the embodirnent according to FIGURE 4 the control arm 16 and itsbuffer 19 are constructed in another way. Thus, the control arm consistsof an outer tube 20 and an inner tube 21, displaceable in relation tosaid outer tube 20. The butter consists of a helical spring 22, placedin the bottom of the outer tube 20, against which spring the lower endof the inner tube 21 can press. The lower end of the outer tube 20 ispivotally mounted in the shorter arm of the two-arm lever 6, whereas theinner tube 21, for adjustment of the smoothest possible movement of thedoor being adjustable as to its length, has its upper end provided witha pin 23, which forms the connection shaft of two links 24 and 25. Theselinks have their one ends rotatably mounted about said pin 23, whereasthe other end of the link 24 is rotatably mounted in the frame 4 and theother end of the link 25 is rotatably mounted in the support arm 12.Through insertion of these links in the Construction it is of coursepossible to exclude the stop plates 14 and have said links Wholly toregulate the limits of the support arms 12.

The last-mentioned device functions in such a way, that, as before, theopening of the door causes the rails to press upon the rollers 11 andturn the support arms lockwise. The links 24 and 25, forming ashear-type link, become straight, thereby causing a movement downwardsof the inner tube 21. This movement is faster than the movementdownwards of the outer tube 20, caused by the levers 6. The lower endsof the inner tubes 21 are thereby brought into contact with the springs22, pressing these together, and the contact thus has a 'softintroduction. After this temporary contact of the control arms 16 withthe support arms 12 during a certain part of the movement of the door,the support arms 12 during a further movement of the door will turnfurther clockwise without any action from the control arms upon thesupport arms, as the outer tube 20 now through the levers 6 has beenmoved so far downwards, that its bottom with the spring 22 has left theinner tube' 21.

The invention has here been described in connection with two certainembodiments. Of course other embodiments are possible within the scopeof the appended laims.

I claim as my invention:

1. An overhead door having a guiding mechanism for guiding the doorduring its opening and closing, said guiding mechanism including on eachside of the door a two-arm lever, pivotally mounted in the door frameside about a horizontal shaft, said two-arm lever having the free outerend of a longer arm pivotally connected to the lower end of the door andthe free outer end of a shorter arm connected to the one end of aspring, the other end of which is connected to the door frame, andfurther including on each side of the door a rail, fastened to theinside of the door near its outer side, thus extending in the heightdirection of the door, and a support arm, pivotally mounted in the doorframe side for swinging movement backwards perpendicular to the plane ofthe door opening, said support arm at its one end being provided with aroller cooperating with said rail and' at its other end being providedWith stop means cooperating with said door frame side, preferably via abutter, to limit said swinging movement of the support arm, and furtherincluding on each side of the door a control arm, the one end of whichbeing pivotally mounted in said shorter arm of said two-arm lever andthe other end of said control arm being mounted in said support armthrough a pin and slot connection.

2. An overhead door having a guiding mechanism for guiding the doorduring its opening and closing, said guiding mechanism including on eachside of the door a two-arm lever, pivotally mounted in the door frameside about a horizontal shaft, said two-arm lever having the free outerend of a longer arm pivotally connected to the lower end of the door andthe free outer end of a shorter arm connected to the one end of aspring, the other end of which is connected to the door frame, andfurther including on each side of the door a rail, fastened to theinside of the door near its outer side, thus extending in the heightdirection of the door, and a support arm, pivotally mounted in the doorframe side for swinging movement backwards perpendicular to the plane ofthe door opening, said support arm in its free end carrying a rollercooperating With said rail, and further including on each side of thedoor a shear-type link, consisting of two link parts and a shatconnecting said parts, said shear-type link with one end being pivotallymounted in said door frame side and with the other end being pivotallymounted in said support arm, and further including on each side of thedoor a control arm connecting said shorter arm of said two-arm leverWith said connecting shaft of said link parts for controlling saidswinging movement of said support arm, said control arm consisting of apair of telescoping tubes and a compression spring therein. I i

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,244,182 6/ 1941Allen 20--16 2,557 ,833 6/ 1951 McFarlane 20-16 2,75L624 6/l956 Lipking16-0 XR 3,208,108 9/1965 Doring 20-16 HARRISON R. MOSELEY, Pr'maryExamine'.

KENNETH DOWNEY, Exam'ner.

1. AN OVERHEAD DOOR HAVING A GUIDING MECHANISM FOR GUIDING THE DOORDURING ITS OPENING AND CLOSING, SAID GUIDING MECHANISM INCLUDING ON EACHSIDE OF THE DOOR A TWO-ARM LEVER, PIVOTALLY MOUNTED IN THE DOOR FRAMESIDE ABOUT A HORIZONTAL SHAFT, SAID TWO-ARM LEVER HAVING THE FREE OUTEREND OF A LONGER ARM PIVOTALLY CONNECTED TO THE LOWER END OF THE DOOR ANDTHE FREE OUTER END OF A SHORTER ARM CONNECTED TO THE ONE END OF ASPRING, THE OTHER END OF WHICH IS CONNECTED TO THE DOOR FRAME, ANDFURTHER INCLUDING ON EACH SIDE OF THE DOOR A RAIL, FASTENED TO THEINSIDE OF THE DOOR NEAR ITS OUTER SIDE, THUS EXTENDING IN THE HEIGHTDIRECTION OF THE DOOR, AND A SUPPORT ARM, PIVOTALLY MOUNTED IN THE DOORFRAME SIDE FOR SWINGING MOVEMENT BACKWARDS PERPENDICULAR TO THE PLANE OFTHE DOOR OPENING, SAID SUPPORT ARM AT ITS ONE END BEING PROVIDED WITH AROLLER COOPERATING WITH SAID RAIL AND AT ITS OTHER END BEING PROVIDEDWITH STOP MEANS COOPERATING WITH SAID DOOR FRAME SIDE, PREFERABLY VIA ABUFFER, TO LIMIT SAID SWINGING MOVEMENT OF THE SUPPORT ARM, AND FURTHERINCLUDING ON EACH SIDE OF THE DOOR A CONTROL ARM, THE ONE END OF WHICHBEING PIVOTALLY MOUNTED IN SAID SHORTER ARM OF SAID TWO-ARM LEVER ANDTHE OTHER END OF SAID CONTROL ARM BEING MOUNTED IN SAID SUPPORT ARMTHROUGH A PIN AND SLOT CONNECTION.